Ligaments play a vital role in the knee: they stabilise the joint and prevent it from moving in the wrong ways. There are many ligaments around the knee that can be
injured. This picture shows a knee that was completely dislocated and had damaged nearly all of the ligaments. The most commonly injured ligaments are the anterior cruciate ligament, the medial
collateral ligament and the medial patellofemoral ligament. It is important that the right treatment is decided upon in this significant injuries and there are many factors which need considering.
Broadly these are based on the extent of injury, the levels of instability levels felt by the patient and the activity levels of the patient. Treatment options will include physiotherapy, knee braces
and surgical options.

MRI scanning is an important part of the decision making process in most knee ligament injuries as it is the best way to see the extent of the injury. This scan is of
a patient injured in a football tackle and his anterior cruciate ligament was injured